Even as a horde of mediapersons waited behind the rope for the arrival of Yuvraj Singh at the National Cricket Academy here on Monday, former India cricketers Syed Kirmani and Sandeep Patil, NCA Director, rushed into each others’ arms before walking towards the media contingent to explain the reason behind their overenthusiastic gesture.
“Do you know what today is?” asked Kirmani before adding, “We won the World Cup 29 years ago today... June 25,” even as Patil nodded with a big grin.
The day was doubly joyous for the two stalwarts as both were part of that Kapil Dev-led 1983 team which won India’s first World Cup on June 25 at Lord’s.
Today’s generation may fondly recollect the happenings of April 2, 2011, when India conquered the peak once again in Mumbai, but June 25 will always hold a special place in the annals of Indian cricket.
In fact, June 25 is also the date for another of Indian cricket’s biggest moments.
On this day in 1932, India made their Test debut against a Douglas Jardine-led England at Lord’s. Strangely, the Test was a three-day affair because, back then, only Australia and England would play five-day matches. India’s match started on Saturday, with Sunday as a rest day, and concluded on Tuesday. England expectedly won, by 158 runs.
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